Summer time is winding down.

Summertime is coming to an abutpt end tomorrow, August 15. Yes, I will be heading back to work teaching school and I can say every year there's a nervous anticipation of what the new year will bring.

I have to rely on one thing... I've been doing this for some time. I've lost track of the number of years. It's been around 25 to 27 years. I am confused because I took two different times in my life to work in other professions. I always came back to teaching. I shouldn't be nervous, after all I'm not on the JV team anymore.

This summer was one of many goals; learning how to relax, coping with my spending habit to feel better and accomplishing some simple tasks of cleaning my house after watching one episode of "Hoarders". No I am not a hoarder but things had gotten messy at my house. I made a few trips to Goodwill and that felt great. No, I did not shop there. I delivered donations of un needed items from my house. Check that off the list, the last two days of my vacation were spent making the goal come true. My house looks great. Next goal was to not get depressed so I took on a project for my sister (Rehabilation Therapist) to make a new pattern for a pillow that helps you sleep better and aids patients in rehab. It took me four tries and I finally got the pattern right. That felt good, old skills of pattern adjustment are still intact. These pillows are suppose to realine the neck and spiral cord to help with sleep and comfort in bed. They are like the pillows in the airport you buy for sleeping on the plane. Mine are butterfly shape and are very decorative. So you can toss them on a chair or bed to add color and character to your room.

Check that off the task list. I have made around 25 of these cute little critters.

I did visit my family in North Carolina in June and visited my other daughter twice this summer to clean, clean, an organize her draws, pantry, cabinets. I'm still on that hoarding kick. It took me two episodes of that horrible show to make me go crazy and that's when I realized my ADHD condition demands organization to help me perform comfortably in my Hyperactive world. Yes, we adult Adhder's like things in their place for our own sanity. Everyone likes order, right?

I went out to lunch a few times with best friends and went to some pretty wonderful movies.

The Smurfs with their adult humor was great and the Help was wonderful. I laughed and cried.

Summer school was fun. I loved every minute co- teaching with a good friend.

Of course, the most fun was laying around our beautiful pool and being with my loving husband most every Sat and Sun. Well one more day in the sun and then it will be off to a new year of teaching. Lord please be with me in all I do and say. Help me be the best that I can be in Your name amen.

Time Off

Teaching can be a challenge but time off for me is the biggest challenge. Get this..... I went to a sale while I was traveling. It was a sale of outdoor cushions for every size and shape chair, lounge chair or bar stool you could every buy. Wow did I go crazy. Ha, ha and then when I went to ship them all home guess what, it was going to cost 300 dollars. Dumb me! I was going to cut some of the cushions up to make the right sizes for my chairs so I preceded to rip all the stuffing out and then I pack the material in my suit case that I carried on the plane. Real smart? No! Now I have to sew them all up and stuff them again. Luckily I have some coupons for stuffing at Joann's. I added it all up and guess what? I could have bought everything at home for almost the same price. I did ship one large box by Postal and it cost 90 dollars. Oh well, now I have a project to work on. I"ll have to show finished products to you in a later blog. Wish me luck.

This project will sure keep me out of the stores for a while, except Joann's. I hope that you are having a great vacation where ever you are. God is still trying to teach me to be conservative with money, but, I keep flubbing up. I know He loves me and is still watching over me. He's probably laughing and saying "Make the best of your mess"! In the long run I will be very busy sewing. God knows me so well!!! Busy hands are happy hands. Thank you, Lord for loving me so much even if I'm a little ADHD. Hope you are glorified in the Lord this summer. Love You.

Summertime

Last day of work for this teaching year. I are very tired as I write but, knowing my summer is full is a good feeling. I've told you many times, I do not do well with empty time. There's just so much relaxing and then I've got to have something to do. You may need more time to relax, but I have always become bored with nothing planned. It's part of my ADHD. I can be a little hyper at times and I pray to God in those times to teach me to slow down and "smell the roses." I have a wonderful back yard and I plan on working hard to make it even better. Isn't God great. He gives us so much. I need to take time to enjoy the little things....reading good books, sunning in the warm sun and just enjoying being at home with my husband. I'm not taking an extensive trip this year but I plan to visit my little family in N.C. and then teach summer school in July and then visit my daughter in Dallas a couple of times. Sounds like I've got it all planned. Wow, I feel better already. I hope God gives you special times and rest this summer. They really knew what they were doing when they planned teachers having time off in the summer. Who made that law? I'll have to look it up on google, my favorite way to find answers. Gotta go finish the last day. God Bless you and give you joy this summer.

Bye Bye Sweeties

June 2, 2011. I am in transition, trying not to cry and be joyful for a year well done. We have had so much fun the last few weeks with Splash Day, Memory Day and now today is Pajama Day. We danced our last dance (Hula) for our parents and sang our favorite songs. We have become friends. Some of the students know change is coming. Tears are being shed and a joy of all the things we have learned is being spilled out like Niagara Falls. For me, it's like birthing a baby, the labor pains are gone and forgotten and the joy of that beautiful baby is all you can think about. We will miss their smiling faces and new acquired language skills. For when they have language they say, "I love you." Many thanks go out to my Co-teacher Diana for the labors of love she pours out to all. I could not do my job so successfully without her.

Thank you Lord for giving me this time with these cherished students. Thank You for always being there for me. Help me grow in your likeness so that all can see Your love. Amen.

It's May!

How did it get to May 20? In teaching time flies by. I know my birthday was May 3rd and I had a great trip to Las Vegas with friends for the big 60. I guess that's where all the time went.

My class gave me a big surprise party. I was absent the day before so my co teacher had them make banners and cards for me. WOW what a great teaching experience. They were giving to me their love. They were thinking about someone else! That says allot about how simple activities can turn into learning activities. They were writing and illustrating and learning an they didn't even know it. Many thanks go out to my partner in the classroom Diana Sandoval for providing that wonderful experience for my class and me. They were so excited and proud of what they had "surprised me" with. Of course, against all rules we had birthday cake for their surprise. Learning is not just academics is it? Consideration of others is a big lesson to learn when your 4 and 5 years old. I count my blessing everyday.

Next week we will be going on a pretend trip to the islands of Hawaii. Full blast , last week.

Hula dancing, singing, eating topical foods and reading original children's books from Hawaii.

Hula skirts, flower leis and all that go with going to an island. We will have splash day the next week to end the year. Wow what fun we will have I know. I"m so excited! Wish me luck.

It's April 9 and it's Fiesta week in San Antonio. How much fun can that be? As a teacher of our cities culture, I really get into the whole party with my kids. I am just about to go buy stuff to decorate my room and plan fun activities for the students. This gives me great joy. Sometimes it's the big things in life that just get you going and add pleasure to your teaching situations. Fiesta is like nothing else in the USA. So go have fun teachers. Live it up and get a little joy in your life.

You've got to see this video on utube. It's calls Joy joy joy kittens. It's really funny.